Talk:Hamster/Archive 1

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Archive 1

Archive 2 →

Contents 1 Claws 2 Hamsters As Pets 3 Leprosy 4 Pet Section 5 Hamster Toys 6 Breeding Age 7 More Breeding Age 8 Dwarf Hamsters 9 Hamsters as pets section 10 New section, hamsters in popular culture 11 Disambiguation 12 Species and subspecies 13 Why a mistake? 14 Rewrite 15 Hay 16 Origins and geography of hamsters 17 Eat their young? 18 Terrible warning! 19 Chewing on bars 20 hamster 21 My Hamster is Too chubby for her tube's 22 Tone of this article 23 Article blanked, 17 Jan 07 24 the information is not accurate 25 Daily amount of food hamster eat. 26 Popular culture section

Claws

My dwarf hamster's claws are starting to get a bit long-- does anybody know a way to trim them or something? I'll Google it but there ought to be a section on grooming or something. Robot Chicken 22:24, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

Take little Hammy to a vet. If you want a challenge at cutting the claws, then cut only the white part, not the pink part. As long as it's pink, don't cut it! But I'd take the hamster to a vet, a vet is better at it. (Of course).61.230.72.211 11:56, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Apparently keeping a rough object in there (terra cotta pot or a rock) helps file their nails down as they play on it. --64.180.207.196 (talk) 07:58, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Hamsters As Pets

I started to extend the "hamsters as pets" section. Due to its size, it may be useful to make it into an extra article in the future. The information is partially taken from http://www.hamsterseiten.de/, a German page (hence no copied wording and no copyright trouble ;) that is worth a visit. --Markus Krötzsch 23:30, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Can someone help me? I'm a new user and I found some vandalism in this section and I don't know how to remove it other than going into the edit section and deleting the information. 206.57.3.114 03:28, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Easiest way is to go to version before vandalism and re-save. This will over-write the newed, vandalized text. However, if intelligent edits have been done since the vandalism, you'll need to go in and remove the vandalism by editing—GRM 20:58, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Leprosy

Do hampsters carry leprosy? --Ed Poor

Thanks, 62. Can you tell us a bit more about tropical hamsters? --Ed Poor

I don't think hamsters are very easily infected with leprosy: otherwise researchers wouldn't have to resort to using Armadillos. I'd bet, though, that hamsters are potential carriers of bubonic plague Malcolm Farmer

If so this will be an example of a zoonosis.

Tropical hamsters? Are there such things?61.230.72.211 11:56, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Pet Section

Hamsters as pets--OK, I think I have exhausted my knowledge. I always had some for about 15 years, but I hate to tell you how long it has been since I have *not* had any. Corrections/additions/updates would be appreciated. Elf | Talk 06:13, 23 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Hamster Toys

About plastic hamster habittrails and balls and such: I and friends used these things for years and years and never had problems with them. My hamsters never peed in the plastic tubes that I remember; they always got off the interstate and used their usual rest areas. The issues raised about sufficient airflow and about hamsters getting stuck make sense, though, so I modified the "do not use these" wording to "use with common sense and under supervision" wording. Elf | Talk 19:50, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

About peeing in the tubes... We've had this problem, but I think it's because of the arrangement of my daughter's hamster cage. "Teddy" decided to nest in the bubble look out, makes messes and then kicks them down the hatch while he's sleeping. (We've actually seen him do this. He'll carefully haul bedding up into the tower then, while he's sleeping, roll around and kick it into the tube. The one day, he managed to completely block the tube.)

Porkchop 12:23, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Breeding Age

On breeding age: I read somewhere that hamsters are able to breed in a few weeks, not 3 months. Anyone have sources to back this?

—i read some where the can stater breeding in 4 weeds yes

More Breeding Age

On breeding age: It is different from breed to breed and gender to gender. Some hamsters may be sexually mature at 28 days old but it is not a good idea to breed they until about three months. (www.hamsterific.com).

I tried to change a lot of this but I didn't stick. I will come back and fix it later. In the last few years some really good habitats have been put out on the market. I also added that it is a good idea to have a hamster toilet(I'm sure that sounds weird but they work great!)And also a new non- wood bedding material was recently released which is less expensived and in my opinion much better. On hamster tubes: the hamster can become to large to fit in the tubes and they can sometimes be used for a chew toy if there isn't aomething better, like a dog biscuit. That may sound weird but it works really well. Also it is very important to have a running wheel. You can have a much smaller cage if you have a wheel. I speak from experiance on most of this stuff, having taken care of two hamsters and read all the information I could find on the internet. Thanks, Lorie Nov 15, 2004.

Dwarf Hamsters

There were two entries for "Mongolian hamster" in the list (Phodopus roborovskii, "more commonly called the Roborovskii hamster", and Cricetulus curtatus). One web page, which unfortunately I forgot to bookmark, says that different sources use this name for different species. Because the list looked really confusing with the same name repeated twice, I swapped the first entry to "Roborovskii hamster, also called the Mongolian hamster".

One more problem, though - both of these were listed as "tiny, now becoming popular as pets", and I couldn't tell if this was actually true in both cases or if somebody put the note beside the wrong Mongolian hamster. Web searches show that there is a fourth "Dwarf hamster" used as a pet, but it's the "Chinese dwarf hamster (Cricetulus griseus)", not Cricetulus curtatus. To make things even more confusing, the main text says:

Two other varieties of hamster are also growing in popularity as pets, the Dwarf Campbell's Russian and the Winter White Russian Hamsters (both subspecies of Phodopus sungorus). Two further species (the Chinese Hamster Cricetulus curtatus and the Roborovski Hamster Phodopus roborovskii) can be found on occasion.

So either the main text is confused, and it's Cricetulus griseus that's the Chinese Dwarf hamster, or the list is confused, and Cricetulus curtatis is not the Mongolian hamster. http://hamsterical.darn-tootin.com/aboutdh.html is my source for the Cricetulus griseus name, but it also thinks the Campbell's Russian Dwarf hamster is Phodopus campbelli, and not a subspecies of Phodopus sungorus.

• To my knowledge, the pet species is Cricetulus griseus. Lady Tenar 15:21, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I decided the notes on popular pets shouldn't be in the taxonomic list anyway, since there are no other notes except on naming, but the main text and the list should be brought into agreement.

I'm fairly certain the dwarf hamsters in US pet stores are Phodopus. I'm not sure if Cricetulus is kept as a pet. I've not seen them in the states. --Aranae 17:59, Feb 9, 2005 (UTC)

Hamsters as pets section

Because the care for dwarf hamsters is somewhat different i would prefer to move the pet care section to golden hamster. Any objections? Lady Tenar 15:21, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

My interest in this article is natural history and taxonomy. That said, I think most people who come here are probably looking for information on their pets. I think it's good to move some specific parts that pertain only to golden hamsters, but quite a bit of the pet info should stay here. Also, I'd suggest making sure it's clear that more pet info can be found on the other sites. --Aranae 17:59, Feb 9, 2005 (UTC)

on a second thought, i agree with you. But then it might be better to keep it all in one place. The dwarf hamsters are interesting enough for own articles without much pet stuff. I also came here because of interest in taxonomy, although i've been a passionate dwarf hamster breeder for some time. That's why i wanted the pet gone somehow. may be there will be hamster (pet) or something similar once the main article is big enough to warrant a split.Lady Tenar 14:29, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Hamsters shit everywhere and can be smelly. Best thing is to get a proper pet, like a cat. The cat will love playing with the hamster, but will terminate the filthy rodent's miserable life eventually. muddypaws

Do you even know anything about hamsters? Neglect to clean up after them is the cause for smell. Oh, and my cat poops MUCH more than my hamster. She's always crapping up my room, and thus, she's smelly. I'd say she's worse than my hamster. And when have you heard of a hamster that steps on the keyboard whilst you type?

In the food section, there is much mention of not feeding hamsters sweets, and there should also be something about not feeding hamsters anything containing garlic. --S

New section, hamsters in popular culture

Added Hamtaro and the Hamster Dance. I'm sure there are a lot more. Haoie 05:34, 3 September 2005 (UTC)

What about www.hamstertracker.com ? 91.125.101.109 18:31, 17 September 2007 (UTC)Sophie

Disambiguation

The disambiguation at the top of the article seems inappropriate because it is unlikely that anyone would search for or link to hamster when they want computer mouse instead, and the hamster in programming doesn't doesn't even have an article. A large number of words have different slang definitions or obscure dictionary definitions, but it isn't always necessary to disambiguate them. -- Kjkolb 00:20, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I'd like to refer you to Talk:Vole in hopes that we can avoid a repeat of that here. I think our final answer seems to have generated peace. If needed, the same thing can be done for hamster. --Aranae 00:28, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

.

There may be searches for Richard Hammond using the Keyword Hamster. 172.206.108.47 18:58, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Species and subspecies

There seems to be some misuse of the term "subspecies" in the article when it is actually referring to distinct species. Either that or it's confusingly written. 69.208.242.205 20:14, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Why a mistake?

"The best known species is the Syrian Hamster, also known as the Golden Hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, which is commonly kept as a pet. It is also sometimes mistakenly called a "Teddy Bear" hamster."

Why is it a mistake to call them Teddy Bear hamsters? -- Writtenonsand 18:34, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Because they are not bears at all Cuzandor 23:51, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Brilliant, Sherlock. --202.156.6.54 14:13, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

It's MOSTLY a mistake because it sets up a mind-set that Hamsters are nothing more than mere toys. That said however, used sparingly the term can be both helpful and pertinent, as a properly bred Syrian Hamster, should actually bear a slight resemblance to Theodore Roosevelt! --24.63.65.6 17:29, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Actually - the above comment is incorrect. They are mistakenly called Teddy Bear hamsters, because there is a seperate type of hamster called a Teddy Bear hamster, which is not a Golden Hamster. They are different breeds, and sometimes people refer to the Syrian/Golden as Teddy Bear, when in reality the Teddy Bear hamster is different... it has longer hair for one. This is a Teddy Bear Hamster: http://www.hammyworld.de/images/hp_ara3.jpg And this is a Syrian/Golden Hamster: http://kathyskritters.com/tales/faq/images/king.jpg GambitMG

Teddy Bear is just a term for a longhaired Syrian ("Fancy" is used for shorthairs). Golden refers to a yellow colored Syrian of either coat type, as well as Syrians in general. The pictures Gambit link to look like a Golden Teddy Bear and a Cinnamon Banded Fancy, but both are Golden (Syrian) hamsters in the general sense. --64.180.207.196 (talk) 07:16, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Rewrite

I think this article needs to be completely rewritten, for really only one VERY big reason: the article reads like a "How to take care of a hamster" guide, almost invariably. The best example of how this is the fact that the imperative is used at the reader very often (commands) e.g. "they should not...." "do not....". It's not that the information given is a problem, just that the tone and phrasing practically throughout, is inappropriate. For this reason, I think it should be completely rewritten (but using the information from the current version). - ^Рэд_хот 11:36, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

I could give it a try, if you guys want. I'm not an expert or anything but I have been breeding Syrian Hamsters for nearly a year now, and currently have 5 adults and 4 juveniles, 2 of which I am selling to a local pet shoppe as soon as they reach 6 weeks old. In addition, I also have a pair of female, albino Russian Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters I have been considering breeding, too. Furthermore, I managed to take 4 rolls of film of my last litter in its various stages, unfortunately these are somewhat melancholy as the mother had trouble nursing this time and lost over two thirds of her babies. However, tonight I successfully bred one of her daughters from her first litter and fully intend to also breed the other female I kept, so more and better pictures may be forthcoming. Moreover, I would be willing to obtain a User Name beforehand as well, if it would make you guys more comfortable. So, does anyone think I should start? --24.63.65.6 09:07, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Well someone has to, so if you want to, sure. I'm very busy at the moment, so can't. But it doesn't take much skill. Like I said, its just the tone and phrasing. It just needs to be rewritten using the same information, but in a way that is more enyclopædia friendly. - ^Рэд_хот 17:27, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Consider it DONE! By Wednesday (Work Ran Long), everything will be brand new!!!! --24.63.65.6 00:46, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Hay

The page says that hay is good bedding because it can also be used as food. Later, it says that hamsters should not be given hay as it can ruin their cheek pouches.

Gazoogleheimer 01:36, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I've edited the page, so it now says that it "can also be a valuble building material, although they should not eat it". Hopes this makes it less confusing.

Deku-Scrub 09:59, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Not really. How exactly, do you propose to stop them? It reminds me of a piece of advice I once heard about the best way to keep Dwarf Hamsters from mating, "Make them sleep in opposite corners!" Question is, of course, "HOW?" --24.63.65.6 09:11, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Isn't it obvious? print the article and give it to the hamster to read. Once it's digested the information the paper will make good bedding too! Richerman (talk) 00:48, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Origins and geography of hamsters

For some reason an overwhelming number of online sources of information talk about hamsters as pets -- and only as pets. I was hoping Wiki had some more general information on hamsters, since it is not very easy to come by otherwise. The origins and history of hamsters in the wild, as well as their present-day geography, seem like good bits of info for Wiki. The article does say that most hamsters come from Russia, but it is not clear if hamsters are endemic to Russia or are merely bred there. Also, where do wild hamsters live? Can anyone contribute?

Personally, I think that should be ALL that is listed under Hamster. The housing requirements between the different genei are so dissimilar, they really should be listed under each species individually, or at the very least, within a whole new topic entitled, Hamsters as Pets. In fact, I've been outlining just such a set of replacement articles myself. Do you guys think I should post them, so you can all have a look at my handiwork, or what? --24.63.65.6 09:25, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

I definitely agree that there should be some info about the hamster's origin. I went to wiki hoping to find out about their life in the wild, and was disapointed only to find pet information. I also agree that there should be two pages- Hamster, and Hamsters as Pets. --70.241.199.172 15:41, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree completely. These hamster articles seem to have conflicting information. It says that all hamsters originate in russia but in the individual articles on syrian hamsters it says that those ones come from syria, and under chinese hamsters it says they come from chinese desert. Can we please have some concensus here! LemonLion 23:36, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Eat their young?

There are two Simpsons epsiodes that suggest hamsters eat their young. Is this true? DarkSideOfTheSpoon 12:50, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Hamsters will, if they feel their young are threatened, eat them to save them from being hurt and also to provide itself with the extra energy required to escape danger.

Omg, lol. Sick. DarkSideOfTheSpoon 03:32, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Yep, they do. Not just to avoid danger either. If a baby dies, the Mother will eat it, and the surviving siblings will join in if their teeth have erupted. I had two sisters give birth recently, one ate 2 of them, the other ate 3! --24.63.65.6 00:35, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

True. In Walking With Dinosaurs, Thrinaxodon (dog-like reptiles) were shown to eat their own young. This behavior was based on hamsters. Dora Nichov 03:23, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Thats nothing, I had a hamster who had 2 litters of at least 5 each and ate every last one of them, I dont know why, she just did, can anyone give me a reason? After she had the second litter I never went near her cage except for to give food and water and she still ended up eating all of her babies.

Did you create some kind of nesting place like a box or something? The mother will hide the young to keep them from prying eyes, otherwise she might still eat them if they are out in the open. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.132.94.122 (talk) 03:15, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

Most animals will eat their young if stressed. Some just don't make good parents and always eat their litters for reasons known only to themselves, perhaps they just can't cope with parenthood. It's a tough world out there. Richerman (talk) 01:00, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Terrible warning!

"An often-used type of hamster cage which is okay for most hamsters except Syrians, which may have trouble getting through tubes." I am confident that this is not true and may even be harmful. Dwarf hamsters do not fit in most commercial hamster tubes and can fall down them. Fall and SUFFER. Although that cage does look horribly tiny and designed for dwarfs, now I look at it. If it's a cage specifically for dwarf hamsters, this should be cleared up, because most tubes I've seen have been for Syrians and the misunderstandings could lead to many horrible tiny deaths. Vitriol 02:21, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

My daughter's book on hamster care states that dwarves don't climb and shouldn't be given multi-level homes. Porkchop 03:19, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

I know I'm right. I also state yo' shouldn't make a new section to respond to a comment thing. :p Vitriol 12:43, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

That's true. Dora Nichov 00:42, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Dwarves can climb. They just need narrower tubes, which are difficult to come by, or a slight incline. I tend to use normal tubes but at no more than 45 degrees. That way, there are no falls, no injuries and no deaths, but still multi-level homes. JPBarrass 07:16, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Chewing on bars

hamsters may chew on their bars but most of the time they sqeeze though them. ( be carefull if you have a hamster they can be in your dishwasher or in --66.31.82.80 22:42, 3 April 2007 (UTC)your room!

My hamster chews on the bars a lot and i am scared that he is going to hert him self. Nov 29 3:34 2007 bye!

Any suggestions? I've been thinking about

• a bigger ball (the one he has is 6" in diameter)
• trying to come up with some kind of tubes-and-second-home arrangement
•  ?

He has a couple of toys which he generally ignores, the cage is a crittertrail-2 with a "look out tower" added to one side.

Porkchop 12:36, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Golden hamster, huh? Well, I only have a dwarf hamster, so I don't know much about golden hamsters. My best guess is that he is just keeping his teeth short like all rodents need to. My hamster also chews bars, even though I have put in chew stick for him. He likes climbing on it instead LOL. Yes, a bigger ball may keep him busy, as golden hamsters are much bigger than dwarf hamsters. Dora Nichov 13:59, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

My daugters hamster died last night and we believe she fell and broke her neck, because when my husband picked her up to get her ready to be buried he felt a small bone sticking up on along side of her neck. She was very, very active and we are shocked this has happened. How common is this? Is their bone structure delicate, or what I am trying to ask, from the sign of her neck with the bone he felt, that she in deed brake her neck bone?

Thank you

Our hamster used to chew on his bars to get our attention. We scolded him every time he did it (as much as you can scold a hamster) and gave him his wood block or toy as a substitute before we figured out that the only time he ever did it was when he wanted us for something. For example, when he had eaten all his favorite seeds from his dish and all he had left were the things he didn't care for, he would start chewing on his bars, knowing we would come running, and not stop until we replaced his food with fresh stuff. One time I forgot to put his hamster treat in with his food, which was a daily routine. He checked for the treat and promptly chewed on his bars to get my attention, and stopped only when I gave him his treat. Anyone who says these little critters aren't intelligent is dead wrong.

hamster

A hamster is a furry animal that dosen't need to be groomed like other animals but still needs food.Lots of people think hamsters are cute but some treat them like a rat or a mouse.I think hamsters are cute but still nothing can copete with a dog. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.131.212.82 (talk) 02:16, 15 December 2006 (UTC).

My Hamster is Too chubby for her tube's

I have a Syrian hamster who has apparently grown too chubby for her tubing. I'm wondering what kind of other materials are safe to use instead of the store bought tube's. Something that would still allow her to get out and about and kill her bordem. If anyone has any Idea's please let me know.

MetalHellsAngel 16:12, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Your hamster is probably somewhat overweight and should be put on a diet! What do you feed it? Does it have a wheel and use it? If not, how does it exercise? Since they are confined to small cages, hamsters (like neutered dogs and cats) are prone to putting on weight if they either eat too much or else don't get enough exercise. There is no insult implied, it's just a fact of life. You'll do him/her a favour by putting it on a diet and helping it to get back to a sleek state—Golden Hamsters should, after all, be able to squeeze through a hole the size of an American Quarter or a UK 10-pence piece! I'm assuming of course that you haven't got a Goldie in a cage designed for dwarfs--GRM 17:59, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Just like people, some animals are just larger than others- doesn't always mean they are overweight. Anyway, there's lots of other things hamsters can do for fun and exercise. I'm not really sure what "out and about" refers to though- I assume this is just tubing attached to the cage? Hamsters are near-sighted so they probably aren't getting much of a view. He would probably prefer to explore in a transparent ball (or without, if your room is hamster-proofed) for 15 minutes at a time. If you have an aquarium or a cage with a deep bottom, adding lots of shavings will allow him to tunnel. It's something they do in the wild, plus he ends up with perfect sized "tubes" every time. ;) Any sort hard plastic or cardboard tubes are fine as well. Don't worry about transparency, pet store tubes are made that way for our sake, not theirs. :] --64.180.207.196 (talk) 07:58, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Tone of this article

Many of the recent contributions to this article have been in an non-encyclopedic tone. However, there are useful additions as well, so simply reverting won't be helpful. I am going to try to fix this.--Grand Slam 7 | Talk 21:03, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Article blanked, 17 Jan 07

I am only keeping a casual eye on this article and chipping in when I think I can, but I'm not sure the complete blanking of the article is helpful. However is monitoring this and/or vandalism, please act!--GRM 21:53, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

This article appears to have been vandalised in the first paragraph, and for whatever reason, I can't edit it away. 72.14.125.25 16:46, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

the information is not accurate

In the Jhonen Vasquez cartoon Invader Zim, the school hamster is called Peepi, who in one episode, is shot by Zim with a raygun increasing his size; turning him into a giant hamster.

What accually happened is that Zim comes at the hamster at night and you see a flashing light, the next day the hamster is larger and has some alien hardware attached to it. The hamster grows larger the more he eats. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.22.41.3 (talk) 00:21, 28 February 2007 (UTC).

Daily amount of food hamster eat.

Can someone check this?

"All kinds of grain, rice, noodles (dry), dry peas and lentils on the other hand can be provided more readily: about 120 g for a medium hamster and, depending on size, half the amount for a dwarf hamster is sufficient."

I Have a Syrian and it is not eating more than 20g a day. Besides, average adult Syrian has 80 grams which would mean he is eating 150% of his weight daily?! --89.216.136.122 18:26, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it's more like 8-15g a day. I'm guessing that's either an added zero, or someone who gave their ham way too much food, didn't know about their hoarding habits and thought the little guy ate it all. o_O --64.180.207.196 (talk) 07:58, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Popular culture section

This section has gotten completely out of hand. Apart from the "introduction", it consists of a long list of random appearances of hamsters in various media. This is unmanageable and unencyclopedic. Consider; should every article on every kind of animal have a list of every appearance of that animal in popular culture? Clearly not.

A section on Hamsters in popular culture in general, would be a different story. Indeed, the first couple of lines of this section could be expanded into something like that. Nevertheless, I remove the entire section, including the first couple of lines, because I feel that if left behind, they would act as a catalyst for people to start re-adding to the list. I strongly suggest that the popular culture section be kept out of this article until it can be included as a full, non-stub, stand-alone section, that will not inspire listcruft.

Please read wikipedia:trivia before re-instating the popular culture section.Dr bab 18:48, 3 April 2007 (UTC).